Library conservation lecture series to commence April 1

Library conservation lecture seriesto commence April 1March 23, 2005Edward Byrnesedbyrnes@syr.edu

Noted library conservation specialist John Dean, preservation and conservation librarian at Cornell University, will inaugurate a new lecture series on library conservation at Syracuse University on April 1 with a presentation titled “Conservation and Preservation in the Digital Age.” The event will be held at 4 p.m. in the Hillyer Room, on the sixth floor of E. S. Bird Library on the SU campus. The event, which is free and open to the public, will be followed by a reception. Parking will be available in paid SU visitor lots.

By digitizing primary source material, libraries can make them widely available through the Internet while minimizing actual handling and resultant deterioration of these unique artifacts. Nevertheless, digitization has led to more, not less, emphasis on conservation and preservation as libraries work to prepare materials for scanning. In his talk, Dean will examine the challenges of performing conservation treatments on books, manuscripts and other library materials not only for the purpose of obtaining the best possible electronic images but also for preserving their functional integrity for future scholars.

The lecture is sponsored by the Brodsky Endowment for the Advancement of Library Conservation, which was recently funded through a generous gift by William J. ’65, G’68 and Joan ’67, G’68 Brodsky of Chicago. Future events in the Brodsky series are currently being planned, and will include lectures by other prominent conservators and related workshops. The endowment will be used to sponsor programs that promote and advance knowledge of library conservation theory, practice and application to wide audiences, both on the SU campus and in the Central New York region.

After emigrating from Great Britain to the United States in 1969, Dean managed the preservation program at the Newberry Library before establishing the apprentice training and conservation program at Johns Hopkins University in 1975. He went to Cornell University in 1985 to establish and develop the Department of Preservation and Conservation. He is widely recognized as one of the major proponents of preservation programs at academic libraries and was the 2003 recipient of the American Library Association’s prestigious Paul Banks and Carolyn Harris Preservation Award. He is increasingly in demand internationally as a conservation consultant.

The Brodskys have been named members of the Chancellor’s Council in recognition of their support of many advancement initiatives at SU, including renovation of the Hall of Languages, construction of the Schine Student Center, establishment of the Michael O. Sawyer Chair of Constitutional Law and Politics in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, the Eleanore and Marcus I. Breier Digital Learning Center at the School of Information Studies (in honor of Joan’s parents), and the Winnick Hillel Center for Jewish Life. Bill Brodsky, chair and CEO of the Chicago Board Options Exchange, was a University Trustee from 1987 until his promotion to emeritus status in 2003. He has served on the Board of Visitors of the SU College of Law since 1995. All three of the Brodskys’ children-Michael, Stephen and Jonathan-received undergraduate degrees from SU in the 1990s.

For more information, contact Peter Verheyen, preservation and digital access librarian in SU Library’s Special Collections Research Center, at 443-9756.